MANILA, 7 August 2006 — Only 25 days remain of the registration period for overseas absentee voting, and less than 5,000 of the much-vaunted million-strong Filipino migrant worker population in the Kingdom have signed up to vote in the 2007 national elections.

Records of the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed that there were only 4,730 who signed up in Saudi Arabia since the new registration exercise opened in August 2005. Of the total, 2,078 (43%) signed up in Riyadh, 1,491 (32%) in Jeddah, and 1,161 (25%) in Alkhobar and Jubail.

The total was a far cry from the figure in the first OAV registration, in which more than 96,000 Filipinos in the Kingdom registered, the biggest worldwide. Hong Kong was a close second.

Despite the low turnout in the past 11 months, the number of registrants in the Kingdom still accounted for 42 percent of the 11,233 total for the Middle East and Africa grouping.

The United Arab Emirates was a close second at 3,515, followed by Qatar with 546 registrants. Nigeria had 286, Kuwait had 242 and the rest including Bahrain, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan accounted for 1,914.

The worldwide total was 93,053 as of July 31. Added to the 364,187 who registered in the first OAV exercise, the grand total would still account for only 5 percent of the 7.9 million or so overseas Filipinos (contract workers and migrants) of voting age, as estimated by the POEA and the DFA.

An analysis of the statistics showed that a big jump in the number of registrants happened only when the Commission on Elections opened registration centers at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) main office and at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila.

By groups, topping the list was the NAIA center with 31,929 registrants, followed closely by the POEA with 30,597. A far third was the Middle East-African region’s 11,233, followed by the Americas with 8,554, Asia-Pacific’s 6,050 and Europe’s 4,690.

In the Asia Pacific countries, Hong Kong was also the topnotcher again with 30 percent (1,811). In the Americas, the United States dominated with 65 percent (8,554). In Europe, half of the registrants were in Italy, which has the biggest number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Officials said the total figure were way below the Comelec’s target of one million registrants. But some are also looking forward to a drastic jump in the number before the registration ends. For better or for worse, many Filipinos prefer to sign up during the last minute. During the first registration, the largest figure worldwide was recorded at the last day of registration at 27,960 out of the total 364,187.

The deadline for this current registration was set on Aug. 31 to give the Comelec and the OAV Secretariat time to prepare the necessary voting paraphernalia needed for the May 2007 election.

Under the OAV law, which took effect in 2003, overseas Filipinos can vote for the president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.